In this article, we will take a look at the 10 Best “Dogs of the Dow” Stocks to Buy for the Rest of 2026.
A December 2025 report by CNBC highlighted that Kevin Simpson, founder and chief investment officer at Capital Wealth Planning, focused on five stocks tied to a strategy many income investors have followed for years. The “Dogs of the Dow” strategy was popularized by investor Michael O’Higgins in the early 1990s. It includes the 10 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average with the highest dividend yields.
Dividend yields usually move in the opposite direction from stock prices. When yields rise, it can signal that a stock is trading at a lower valuation and may have room to recover. Since these companies are part of the blue-chip Dow, investors also see them as relatively stable, higher-quality names. The strategy appeals to investors looking for steady cash payouts while waiting for potential price appreciation.
After lagging the broader market in both 2023 and 2024, the Dogs posted a strong comeback in 2025. The group gained 17% during the year, ahead of the Dow’s 13.7% return over the same stretch. Simpson said this marked the strategy’s strongest performance since 2019, citing data from Bespoke Group.
Looking ahead to 2026, Simpson is optimistic about the three healthcare names in the strategy: Amgen, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson. Speaking on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange”, Simpson said the healthcare trade started to “come to life at the end of 2025.” He also pointed to Verizon as an attractive option for income-focused investors.“If you’re a dividend player, Verizon always seems to top that list because it’s a very slow growth company, which translates to a slow appreciation of the stock. According to Simpson, because the Dogs strategy is yield-driven, its holdings tend to change every year.
Given this, we will take a look at the best Dogs of the Dow for 2026.
Our Methodology
For this list, we screened dividend-paying companies within the Dow 30. Since the focus was on companies with recent developments, the selection only included those offering dividend yields of at least 1%, as of May 15. Finally, we picked stocks with a short %age of float below 4%, and ranked them accordingly.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).
10. NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)
Short Percentage of Float: 4.78%
Dividend Yield as of May 15: 3.87%
A May 12 report from The Wall Street Journal revisited how NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)’s expansion into China started decades ago, when co-founder Phil Knight traveled across the country by train and saw a major opportunity for the brand. His idea of reaching “one billion people, two billion feet” captured Nike’s long-term ambitions in the market.
That strategy later proved successful. By 2010, China had become one of Nike’s most profitable regions and a blueprint for many US companies looking to benefit from the country’s economic growth. The report said Nike’s position in China has weakened significantly in recent years. The company is now dealing with strong local competition and rising consumer nationalism, turning what was once one of its biggest success stories into a challenging market for the sportswear company.
Over the past three quarters, Nike’s revenue in China has dropped 28% compared with the same period five years ago, even as the country’s sportswear industry continued to grow. The company has also reshaped its China leadership team, removed several senior employees, and acknowledged deeper structural problems in the market. China has now become the weakest-performing segment in Nike’s global business.
NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) designs, markets, and distributes athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services for sports and fitness activities.
9. Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)
Short Percentage of Float: 2.41%
Dividend Yield as of May 15: 3.09%
On May 14, Piper Sandler lowered its price recommendation on Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) to $427 from $432. It reiterated an Overweight rating on the stock. The firm said that, from a broader business perspective, it still sees potential upside to consensus revenue estimates not only for 2026 but also for 2027. Analysts noted that this outlook is less tied to the company’s core commercial products and more driven by continued momentum in the rare disease segment, especially Uplizna. Piper also pointed to Tepezza as a possible long-term growth driver following strong Phase III results for its subcutaneous formulation.
A week earlier, on May 7, Freedom Broker upgraded Amgen to Buy from Hold and kept its price target unchanged at $375.The firm said Amgen’s first-quarter results were “fully in line with our expectations, although the quarter is seasonally weak.” Analysts added that it is “still too early to draw firm conclusions about the earnings trajectory for the full year,” though the company’s main growth drivers remain in place. Following the stock’s decline in the first quarter and the steady performance of Amgen’s innovative portfolio, which has helped offset weakness in mature products, the firm decided to upgrade the shares.
Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers medicines targeting serious diseases. The company focuses on areas with high unmet medical needs and uses its scientific expertise to develop treatments aimed at improving patients’ lives. It operates through the human therapeutics segment.
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